Capital.

In a blink of an eye, half of winter has passed, and as the middle of winter approaches, the chill in the air is naturally much stronger than the early winter season not long ago. Soon, when the winter solstice comes and the cold weather in the 39th is coming, the scenery of the north will be filled with ice, snow falls thousands of miles away, and a piece of silver is covered with silver.

However, although the weather has not yet entered the coldest cold weather, Xuanwu's heart is already falling into an ice cave at this time, much colder than the coldest 39th season.

The reason why Xuanwu felt cold and couldn't help but feel cold all over, was naturally the news that came from Hongdu Mansion not long ago:

More than half of the masters in Liangjiang Hall were lured by the people from the Ning Prince's Mansion, and were deeply trapped in a siege, without knowing life and death!

"King Ning did take action!"

When I heard the news, I had a premonition in my heart and had already sent someone to remind Xuanwu, the senior executive of Liangjiangtang, that although I felt cold, I didn't feel abrupt.

Although he was different from other lords such as Qinglong and Zhuque, he did not come from the Ning Prince's Mansion, but the previous lord Xuanwu who was said to be located in him was an eunuch from the Ning Prince's Mansion.

As adopted as the stepson of the previous Xuanwu Lord, he may be a little far behind the previous Xuanwu Lord in terms of blood, but he is still extremely close in his relationship.

Because according to religious etiquette, as long as the "procedure" of adoption is completed, and the witness is obtained by the elders in the clan and the genealogy is entered, he is the "legitimate" son of the old master. He can inherit all the inheritance of the old master. He also has to serve the old master as a Son of Man after the death of the old master, and to be responsible for the incense sacrifice of the old master in the future.

Therefore, after the death of the previous Xuanwu Lord, he did not go to the Ning Palace to invite him, but directly helped him to the position of Xuanwu Lord, and turned it into a certain fact, which made the Ning Palace have to pinch his nose and endure it.

In the final analysis, people are selfish.

Even if he has left his descendants, he seems to have no desires and no worries about his life.

In short, because of his close relationship with the previous Lord, even though Xuanwu was not from the Ning Prince's Mansion and had not even crossed the Yellow River in his life, he still relied on the old Lord's teachings to him for many years and learned about Ning Prince's Mansion in a more detailed manner.

After he took over the position of Xuanwu Lord and created Diting, an organization that inquiries about information, he also had a new, stable and reliable source of the situation in the Ning Prince's Mansion.

Relying on these experiences "inherited" from the previous generation, as well as the many news I found through listening and so many years, as well as the contemplation of the letters sent to the North Pole Heaven, Xuanwu's understanding of the Ning Prince's Mansion and the current Ning Prince is even more profound than the "old men" from the Ning Prince's Mansion such as the dead Qinglong and the half-dead Zhuque.

After all, whether it is Qinglong or Zhuque, the Ning Palace they knew was the Ning Palace more than ten years, or even more than twenty years ago, and the Ning Palace they knew had already changed two terms.

It is precisely because of his understanding of the Ning Palace and the Ning King that Xuanwu felt so nervous after learning the news that Liangjiangtang was sent in an expedited manner.

He knew that this was a signal that the Ning Prince's Mansion had already declared war with him from this moment.

What made him feel both worried and helpless was that from the moment King Ning declared war on him, his power was greatly lost.

As an organization that collects information everywhere, Diting's personnel structure is even looser than that of Tianji Pavilion.

After all, in addition to collecting information, Tianji Pavilion also needs to obtain benefits by selling information so that it can maintain its expenses.

But when I listen, there is obviously no such "troubles".

It is precisely because Diting's expenses basically depend on the North Pole to carry out "blood transfusion", Diting, especially in other places far away from the capital, basically adheres to the concept of "soldiers value essence but not much".

Taking Liangjiang Hall as an example, if it weren't for Xuanwu's request to "contact" with the Ning Prince's Mansion and conduct a test order, the Liangjiang Hall, with only more than 30 people, was basically scattered among the dozen prefectures along the river on weekdays. Each prefecture had only four or five people, and the few were not even one. Only after receiving the news would there be people going nearby to inquire and collect the news.

Among them, less than one-third of the truly elite "Tongyou" and less than ten people. The rest are either "apprentices" who are still studying around these "Tongyou" or "walking" with dirty and tiring work.

But now, the news came from Liangjiang Hall that the elite "Tongyou" with less than ten people in Liangjiang Hall lost more than five people in this battle, leaving only the deputy hall master He Jingying and two "Tongyou" masters escaped because they were not present at the time. They are still lurking in Hongdu Prefecture City and dare not move, for fear of attracting the attention of Prince Ning's Mansion.

As for the remaining "apprentices" and "walking", the amount of losses was much smaller, less than half. But for Xuanwu, he would rather let these "apprentices" and "walking" be captured by the Ning Wang Mansion than a "Tongyou" master fall into the hands of Ning Wang.

After all, compared to "apprenticeship" and "walking", "Tongyou" is really too precious.

Moreover, in addition, the "Tongyou" who are several masters in Liangjiang Hall are all senior executives of Liangjiang Hall. The secrets they know are obviously much more than those "apprentices" and "walking".

The news from Liangjiangtang did not say that the "Tongyou" who had lost all died, but only said that they were "in a siege and did not know life or death."

Since they are "unknown to life and death" and are "under the siege", even if it is the best situation, I am afraid that they will all die on the spot by fighting or suicide.

But the Ning Palace was tolerant this time and planned a sudden action for several months. It was impossible for it to be unprepared. Therefore, no matter how broad Xuanwu was and how much comforted him, he would not dare to imagine that the "Tongyou" who were "in the siege" would all die in battle or commit suicide by taking poison.

In this way, the Ning Prince's Mansion undoubtedly received a "tongue" that could be interrogated and asked about Di Ting's related news, which was almost the same as being exposed.

After all, he didn't believe that the "Tongyou" who were arrested could really survive the torture of the Ning Prince's Mansion.

As long as there is someone who can't stand the final confession, it's all over.

"Maybe, it's time to use that card!"

Thinking of this, Xuanwu, who had all kinds of thoughts in his heart, couldn't help but raise his head, looking forward with his eyes, but there was no focal length, looking empty, and talking to himself in his mouth.

...

Since "inspecting" the old book shops in the city, learning the "way of survival" of these peers, and relying on the great power of Beiji Tiantian in the capital, and successfully following the example, Wu Jian, the Beiji Tianxiang Hall, disguised as an old book shop, finally stood firmly.

Moreover, because the things are exquisite and the prices are fair, there are even signs of a booming business.

Fortunately, Wu Jian noticed this in time, and then seriously rejected several customers who "come to come" and finally brought the business back to the previous way that he could survive but did not attract too much attention and was half-dead.

Those old customers who had become "repeated customers" who were "lucky" before are naturally happy to see this.

After all, this thing is not very large. If Wu Jian really refuses everyone and sells it with money, it might not be their turn.

The neighbors nearby also looked at Wu Jian with a high opinion because of this, and thought he was a person who could tell the importance of the matter.

Otherwise, if Wu Jian really turned this place into a "yin nest", even if no official sent people noticed the abnormality here, they would take the initiative to report Wu Jian.

It was also because he saw that Wu Jian knew the importance of the matter, and he was not the kind of idiot who forgot everything when he saw money, but his neighbors quickly became active.

A small stall selling food will give Wu Jian some food that has not been sold out after closing the stall. If the vendors who travel around the streets receive any old books, they will also take them to Wu Jian first and ask him if he will collect them...

Wu Jian naturally repaid his favor. He could not give it to others with shameful things. However, some story books, such as various legendary stories and stories of gods and monsters, would also be used to read them to their neighbors' children in their spare time, which could be regarded as indirectly helping these busy neighbors take care of their children.

After a while, in less than two months, Wu Jian became very familiar with his neighbors.

However, compared with the "slashing progress" in his relationship with his surrounding neighbors, he sneaked into the North Pole Heaven, tried his best to climb up, met Xuanwu as soon as possible, confirmed the other party's identity and location, and then notified Bai Shier that the plan to clear the North Pole Heaven was not progressing at all.

If he had not been able to learn from the news of beggars and refugees every day that people would enter this somewhat remote market every day and monitor him not far from the old book shop, he would probably have thought that Xuanwu had completely forgotten him and had forgotten everything.

However, even though he knew that Xuanwu was still sending someone to monitor him, he still did not trust him completely. Therefore, he still wanted to observe and even test himself that his mission was far from failure, but Wu Jian was still a little irritable and uneasy.

The source of anxiety, besides Xuanwu's suspicion and endless surveillance and temptation, is more from Bai Shier, or rather, the emperor behind Bai Shier.

Because he knew very well that Bai Shier was a very patient person, even though nearly two months had passed, Bai Shier had never expressed any impatient thoughts not long ago, except for the poor student who came to buy old books to exchange for them, so that he could rest assured and wait.

He believed that Bai Shier could be calm, but he didn't believe that the emperor could be as calm as Bai Shier.

In his opinion, it was very rare for the emperor to give Bai Shier and him several months. If there was no news to be sent back, I was afraid that the emperor would really be patient.

No one can guarantee what his end will be like at that time.

Even though it is rumored that the emperor today is a rare kind king, no matter how kind he is, he should not have any kindness to him, the prisoner who should have been executed.

Therefore, in recent days, even though the weather has become colder and colder, he will be awakened from his sleep with sweating all night long.

If Bai Shier hadn't come a few days ago to remind him not to be impatient and continue to be patient, I'm afraid that now he would have to take the initiative to convey his thoughts to Xuanwu through his superior, the Lord of Gyeonggi Hall.

...

Just as Wu Jian continued to guard his old book shop with great anxiety, he was already pessimistic in his heart that Xuanwu would not summon him for a year or even several years. His future was dark. He was either tortured in a dark cell or when his head was cut off by an executioner on the guillotine, news came from Gyeonggi-do:

Xuanwu will see him tonight and prepare him.

When he just got the news, Wu Jian couldn't believe it and almost thought it was an hallucination that he had because he was too anxious.

However, with the pain coming from his thigh that was pinched hard, he finally confirmed that all this was not hallucinations, that these were true.

After two months of his life, he finally ushered in the dawn.

However, immediately, the ecstasy look on his face was replaced by frowning and deep thought.

Because he thought of a somewhat difficult problem.

He didn't know how to spread the news and spread it to Bai Shier, let it know and prepare in time.

After all, since he agreed to join the plan and launched an action, Bai Shier has always been in contact with him, and he has not had a channel to contact Bai Shier.

If it was just like when he was at Yuelai Inn before, it was just a few "small things" involving a few small incense masters, it would be fine if he didn't inform Bai Shier of the news, but now, it is related to Xuanwu himself. No matter what aspect he considers, he feels that the news must be transmitted.

However, when he stood up and was about to come out to clean up the stall, temporarily close the book shop, leave to find Bai Shier's traces, and inform the other party of the news, his gaze accidentally swept to the spy who had been monitoring him.

It was also the notice of this spy who spoke Diting that instantly gave up this idea and became alert in his heart.

He had not noticed before that he had been blinded by this sudden good news and was even a little lost. So much so that his heart was full of informing Bai Shier of the news, and then he took the opportunity to find Xuanwu's traces, arrest Xuanwu, clear the North Pole Heaven, and listened to the thoughts that he had forgotten the things he had been vigilant before.

Fortunately, when his eyes swept to the spy, his heart was relaxed by surprise and instantly returned to his body.

Could this be Xuanwu deliberately testing?

This thought flashed in Wu Jian's heart, making his hand that originally wanted to clean up the stall turned into picking up an old book at hand, and then turned around and sat back on the recliner.
Chapter completed!